On October 6th 2018 the UK skate scene lost another legendary character when Edwin Brockman passed away after a courageous 11 year battle with cancer.

I first met Ed at Southbank in early 1980 along with his very good friend Martin Sweeney and we remained firm friends ever since. Back then, in what has become known as the “dark days” of skateboarding, Southbank was the hub, the focal point of the London scene and home of the LSD Crew (London Skates Dominate – not the drug!). The crew were hardcore, made up of slalomers, freestylers and park riders which made for a great melting pot of talent and Ed was very much at the centre of it all. He would crack funnies at the drop of a hat and have you in stitches as he skated silently behind an unsuspecting pedestrian while pulling faces at them and gesturing. People will probably have their own memory or favourite Ed story. The one it seems that many remember was at one of the legendary post Southbank “food fights” in McDonalds in The Strand. In mid-attack, while bits of gherkin and fries were flying through the air he looked up and shouted, “Oi! I wanna eat my burger not wear it”. Ed was also the instigator behind the pyjama skates around London not to mention the infamous “dress as an Arab” skate! You’d be locked up for doing that now! He enjoyed travelling to the various competitions around the country with the Southbank crew; always making sure to pick up any stickers and memorabilia wherever he went.

Following the resurgence of slalom in 2002, Ed travelled to a number of races in Europe to compete with his fellow Brits. Through these European sojourns he not only met new skate friends and fellow collectors but added many more stories to his already extensive repertoire of skate related anecdotes; many of them retold in the café on wet Hog Hill days when he could often be seen holding court and entertaining soggy bedraggled skaters. He loved being at Hog Hill and was always ready and willing to help other riders out be it giving advice based on his wealth of experience or passing on tips to newbies.

When the UKSSA held their first race at Hog Hill back in 2008 Ed and Martin were there. Ed raced and Martin assisted with cone marshalling duties. In the years that followed, both friends were a common sight trackside at Hog Hill. When Ed was no longer able to race he still came along to help cone marshal, His booming voice became a feature at races and he obviously injected his usual humour to the proceedings, shouting things like “Two of the Queen’s cones on the white lane and f*ck all on the red” on being asked to confirm a cone count. When not marshalling he would take photos of the racing while at the same time shouting words of encouragement to the riders as they passed.

Anyone that knew Ed will know his reputation for being something of a collector, in particular when it came to stickers! “All of the stickers in all of the colourways” springs to mind. They were meticulously stored in albums and plastic storage boxes, each sticker in it’s own individual ziplock bag. If anyone was going to a competition no matter where they always had strict instructions to “Pick up any stickers for me”. Ed would bring his swaps and duplicates to Hog Hill, setting up his “Little Shop of Treasures” in the cafe selling all things vintage. It wasn’t just stickers though, there were trucks, wheels, bushings, risers as well as various badges and promo items – but always a bargain to be had.

Even when his health began to deteriorate further it was his wish to come to as many Hog Hill events as he could so he could be with his friends. Paul Coupe would pick Ed and his boxes up from his home in Bermondsey and on arrival at Hog Hill we would get him set up in the café. We are eternally grateful to the very lovely Sylvia from the café who helped keep an eye on Ed and made sure he had his meds on time when we weren’t around. He still had time for everyone and would sit sharing his memories about being a skater in London during the 70’s and chatting about past races or events. It was always entertaining looking through old skate books with Ed, he would normally have a story about something or someone in it. A few years back we were looking at an article about Skate City in one of my books when he shouted out “F*ck me!” and pointed to the page “See that grem in the white Cooper helmet on the lip, that’s me!” and it was!

Racing at Hog Hill.Photo: Andy Turner

I will always remember the opening day of The House of Vans in London. Tony Alva, Christian Hosoi, John Cardiel and Steve Van Doren were in town for the official opening. Whilst talking to TA at the signing Ed said “I need to confess something to you Tony” He went on to explain how he and Bricky had ridden his board around at Mad Dog Bowl in the 70’s. It happened when TA and Mark Baker went off to get food before they did their demo later that day. “That’s right” TA said, “That’s right I had a bowl named after me, Ha Ha! So you rode my board huh?” He then proceeded to sign a vans poster, personalising for Ed and referring to Mad Dog Bowl. He was so stoked! About a fortnight later he called me up to ask if I had seen a particular Alva interview? In the interview TA had mentioned talking to some English skater at House of Vans about Mad Dog Bowl and riding his board around when he wasn’t there. “That’s me!” Ed exclaimed.

Ed with TA, the smile says it all.Photo: Rob Ashby

Ed’s funeral took place at Honor Oak Crematorium in South London on Monday October 22nd. It was standing room only in the chapel as his family, friends and fellow skaters gathered to pay tribute and say their last goodbyes. Ed’s wishes had specified “Vans are optional but compulsory for skaters” and in accordance with this there were Vans of all colours and styles on show. Friends in the skate industry donated skate stickers and I made up sticker bags with them which were given out to skaters in exchange for a donation to the family’s chosen charity Dimbleby Cancer Care, who had supported them throughout the duration of Ed’s illness.

Ed’s board and a pair of his favorite Vans with floral tribute.Photo: Alec Brown

TheUK skate scene has lost a truly unique and much loved character and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all better people for having known him and that he will be sadly missed by us all.

Our most sincere condolences and thoughts go out to Jill, Jack, Annie-Mae and the whole Brockman family.

Skaters, family and friends remembering Ed after the service.Photo: Michael Stride

Chris Charalambous passes in front of the distant London skyline.Photo: Andy Turner

This year’s Summer Swine Stomp took on a slightly different format than usual as it would incorporate the running of the inaugural Martin Sweeney Memorial Trophy Tight Slalom Race. Martin died last October and was one of this country’s top slalom exponents, excelling in Tight Slalom. He was probably best known for setting the original 100 cone record on Hawthorn Hill at Brands Hatch in 1991 which was recorded by BBC TV and featured on Record Breakers with Roy Castle. It was a record that stood for many years to come. At the European Championships at Hog Hill in 2013 Martin was presented with a special ISSA diploma by ISSA President Jani Soderhall in honour of him establishing the 100 cone record. To mark Martin’s passing and the immense contribution he made to slalom skateboarding we decided to hold a race bearing his name with a bespoke trophy to be raced for and awarded annually. The trophy was made from some of Martin’s personal bits and pieces of skate stuff by the very talented Bryn Nulty of Flaming Flamingo Forge and was based on an original sketch by Mac.

The Martin Sweeney Memorial Trophy for Tight SlalomPhoto: Rob Ashby

Numbers were definitely down on previous year’s summer events but those that were there were making the most of the track and the continuing fine hot weather. Our aim was to run the Memorial Race using a timed, single lane, old school style Tight course on the hill where we normally hold the dual Hybrid. The fastest 10 riders would go through to a final on Sunday. Chris Charalambous set about putting a course down but on completion and after a few practice runs it was clear that bar himself and Louis nobody else was going to make the course without DQ’ing. We decided to try something else. We were few in number so were not in any great rush. In fact the afternoon had already taken on a much more chilled and relaxed atmosphere than usual which made a change for me and Sam. Normally we would be up to our necks running the dual Hybrid and manning the timing table/laptop. A new course was soon down and being practiced on but once again it proved way too fast. People were just not making it, either DQ’ing or spraying cones all over the hill, time for another rethink. This time Paul Coupe had a go at course setting, opting for a snaking “S” shaped course down the hill. Whilst it was by no means perfect and would not be the actual course used for the race we decided to leave it down for people to skate. Saturday therefore became just a nice relaxed “free skate”. Whilst all the shenanigans were going down on the hill, Jim “Nutsac” had scoped a nice flat-ish section of track behind the Downhill start line up at the top of the track that would a) allow a proper old school TS course to be set b) with sufficient space to run it as a head to head race and C) it would allow the Downhill crew to get involved if they wanted to. Having liaised with Timmy we decided that we would run the memorial race proper on Sunday afternoon after the GS. It would be old school in every way including a limited push start into the course. With a new plan in place for Sunday we headed home.

Saturday’s chilled atmosphere spilled over into Sunday, it was still too hot to rush anything and shade was at a premium. As is customary we began the day with the Giant Slalom; with only a small amount of racers we opted to go for the best of three timed runs. It was very hot but there was an occasional breeze, which whilst welcome by onlookers roasting in the searing Midday sun, could have a negative effect on a racers run time.

Andy Turner prepared for launch.Photo: Rob Ashby

Following a short delay due to a timing issue we began the practice session… “Mad dogs and Englishmen” springs to mind. During practice a few minor tweaks were made to the course before getting down to the serious matter of the actual timed runs. Racers may have been few in number but the competition was as fierce as ever, all eyes on the digital time clock at the top of the hill. After the first run Louis was leading the pack with a clean run time of 25.22 but Sam was hot on his heels with 25.44 also clean. Paul TC, Paul Coupe, Dill, Andy and Chris Charalambous were all putting very good 26 sec. times, the battle was very much on. Try as he might Sam couldn’t nudge Louis off the top of the leader board. His best run of 25.02 clean wasn’t quick enough. Louis’ final run time, a clean 24.68 ensured he chalked up another Hog Hill GS win for his Pavel Twin Terror model.

During the GS Simon Gunning, former World Record holder in Downhill showed up complete with his Roger Hickey designed downhill set up and gave a bit of an impromptu “show ‘n’ tell. He has even mentioned maybe coming along to Hogtoberfest possibly with a luge? That would be good to see. It is always good when old faces turn up at Hog Hill, you just never know who’ll show up next?

Simon’s Roger Hickey designed Downhill board.Photo: Rob Ashby

From the GS we turned our attention to setting up the courses for Martin’s race. Big thanks go to Jim “Nutsac” Parry Jones for getting everything going on that front ably assisted by Chris and Dobie. In fact at this point I would like to say a special Big Thanks to Dobie for his sterling work on contacting sponsors for the race and getting us a stash of goodies from far and wide. This enabled us to make sure that everyone that entered walked away with something and we still have some left for Hogtoberfest too!

The dual Tight coursePhoto: Rob Ashby

As previously mentioned the race format was going to be old school in every way. The idea was that everyone would race one another, there was a limited push start into the course, no cone penalties, 4 cone = DQ, first across the finish line takes the point. The two riders with the most victories would race for the trophy. Simple and to the point. A few interested longboarders came across to try slalom during what became a bit of an extended practice session. After a very brief rider briefing we began the head to head racing. Racers formed two queues and waited for their turn to race. The start was a simple 3-2-1-GO! then the skaters pushed hard into the course. With no cones to count and very few cones to replace the racing was almost continuous. Everyone seemed to enjoy the informal jam format feel to the racing. Chris was on blistering form, making short work of the tight course and racking up victories.

Chris Charalambous, speed and style.Photo: Andy Turner

Simon TG Wells “Having a blast”Photo: Andy Turner

Louis heading for the final against Chris.Photo: Andy Turner

Unfortunately owing to a slight misunderstanding with our exit time from Hog Hill we were forced to bring a premature end to the heats and proceed to the final based on the greatest number of wins so far. A quick look at the tally board showed that Chris and Louis had chalked up the most wins and so would face each other for the honour of lifting the trophy. It was fitting too that one of Martin’s Southbank brothers should be in the final against the current cream of the crop – the best of British old and new. In the first run Louis hit just one cone and crossed the line just inches ahead of Chris who had run clean just as he had pretty much done all afternoon. All eyes were on the course as both riders began pushing in for the last run. Chris clipped a cone at the top of the course but was still neck and neck with Louis. Then it all went wrong for normally clean running Chris as he took out a swath of cones halfway through the course and DQ’d, leaving a very jubilant Louis, the winner of the inaugural Martin Sweeney Memorial Trophy Tight Slalom Race.

Well raced chaps.Photo: Andy Turner

We carried out a token presentation as the trophy still needs a little bit of work to finish it off. The formal presentation will be carried out by members of Martin’s family who will award the trophy to Louis. I’ll keep you posted on when and where that will be. Sam Gordon was awarded a special one off slalom deck made by sp8boards complete with the UKSSA 10th anniversary Mac graphic printed on it. This was in recognition of getting the UKSSA racing at Hog Hill 10 years ago and so starting everything off.

Sam Gordon with the Special Award Slalom Board made by SP8boards with Mac “Hog” 10th Anniversary graphic.Photo: Chris Drewery Photography

The weekend panned out slightly different than I had originally anticipated but I think Martin would have approved of the relaxed vibe. I enjoyed the few runs I did for him on his old set up that Paul Coupe bought along – I even got a clean run in! Quite a few people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed jam format head to head racing and that we should do more of it; something to think about for future Sunday afternoons after the GS perhaps?

Jim “Nutsac” enjoying the vibe.Photo: Andy Turner

Dobie and Chris – when you gotta chill, you gotta chill.Photo: Andy Turner

Schwag for all from our very generous sponsors.Photo: Rob Ashby

Simon Gunning catching up with Chris after many years.Photo: Rob Ashby

The Most Gigantic Mahoosive Thanks Dept.

On behalf of everyone monumental thanks go to Sam Gordon for getting us the gig in the first place 10 years ago and for all of his subsequent first class work in front of and behind the scenes, sign-up etc. ever since. We all appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment. I know you will be stepping back a bit what with fatherly duties and all but nonetheless the slalom community owe you much beer and many packets of crisps.

The Usual BIG Thanks Dept:

Michael Stride and Octane Sport for their ongoing support with ramps, timing and prizes

Lyn and Richard Case/RK Case Contractors for ramp storage

Simon Wells for transportation/ramp shifting and generally getting involved in just about everything during set up, racing and breakdown

LSD Crew – Jim Parry Jones, Dobie Campbell and Chris Charalambous

Kryptonics – for the awesome wheels!

Bod Boyle/Dwindle Distribution

Don Brown/Etnies

Dan Jagger/Supreme

Donald Campbell/Pavel Skates

Sabina Edwards/Thrill Magazine

Ian Coles, Sylvia, Dave and all of the staff at Redbridge Cycling Centre

St John’sAmbulance Service

Coupe Limousine Service

……And finally a special big “Thank You” to everyone that raced and helped out whether it be writing things on whiteboards, set up/break-down, van packing the whole shebang – many hands make light work.

Once again it’s time to grab your sunnies, deck chair, sun cream and best wiggling board for the annual Turn & Burn race at the Paddle Round the Pier Festival, Hove Lawns. Come on down, take in some sea air and glorious sunshine down in Brighton this weekend. Big thanks go to the Paddle Round the Pier committee for having us back as part of their festival.

Due to logistical reasons the main race day will be Saturday when we will be running with ramps and timing. Unlike previous years we will aim to run both head to head Tight and Hybrid races on the same day. This should be feasible but is dependant on the number of riders. Sunday will therefore be a free day for riding slalom on the same spot for whoever is around. The weekend forecast is “Scorchio” so I anticipate the going will be good to soft as the sun heats up the asphalt. We all know how soft underfoot it gets in the afternoon so as ever wheel choice will be key as the conditions change. Bring some shade with you too!

This years Summer Swine Stomp sees a change from the usual schedule in order to accommodate the running of the inaugural Martin Sweeney Memorial Race. Martin was a true UK slalom legend and the first person to set a record for skating 100 cones. The UKSSA will be celebrating Martin’s incredible talent with an annual old school Tight Slalom race for the Martin Sweeney Trophy made by the very talented Bryn Nulty of Flaming Flamingo Forge. The first of these will be run over the weekend of 14th/15th July at the Summer Swine Stomp event.The race is sponsored by Octane Sport, Kryptonics Wheels, Dwindle Distribution, Etnies, Pavel Skates and Supreme.

The format will be timed runs on an old school style single lane Tight Slalom course. The course will be set using the whole width of the small hybrid hill and is intended to be fun but challenging course. We will have a final on Sunday featuring the top 10 fastest riders. Members of Martin’s family will be present to award the trophy on Sunday.We will still run the usual GS on Sunday morning and time/weather permitting we may try and shoehorn in a head to head hybrid gauntlet race or similar?

This year marks the UKSSA’s 10th anniversary holding races at Hog Hill. We have Sam Gordon to thank for initially getting our foot in the door through his cycling connections. The UKSSA were actually the first organisation to hold an event at the centre on 20th July 2008 before it had even been finished. At that time only the top oval had been completed, the rest of the circuit was just rolled hardcore still awaiting the top surface to be laid. For that inaugural race we used the section of track that we still use for dual racing today. We threw an open invite to London Longboards in 2010 and they joined us at Hog Hill for the British Outlaw Championships in May that year. Following that the events gained in popularity and Hog Hill gained as big a reputation with longboarders as it had already established with slalom racers.

This year’s season opener was a month earlier than usual but thankfully the weather gods were kind to us and Hog Hill was bathed in warm sunshine all afternoon. Our friends fromSwedenreturned to compete including my fellow Kryptonics Ambassador Pelle Gusstafsson with his First Lady Therese Redman, Anton Sundling and a newcomer to Hog Hill Olle Bauer. Mmedo Duffort also came across fromFranceensuring “Frenglish” representation.

With Andy on his Slimming World duties Simon Wells has stepped in to do the honours with the ramps while he can. One of our previous hybrid courses was still partially marked so to save time we used this as the basis for the dual course. Once a few timing hiccups had been resolved practice began. It was quite a tricky course with a few wide offsets and you could easily pay the price if accelerating too fast towards the bottom section. In fact during racing this was where most of the DQ’s and cone penalties occurred.

After a short rider briefing we began the qualifying heats. I manned the timing table along with Sam and the shiny new UKSSA laptop. Not only do we finally have a new laptop but whiteboards too! The course wasn’t taking any prisoners during the qualifying runs, DQ’s were racking up as were the cone counts. Everyone rose to the challenge and all bar a couple got times in the bag. But with it being a Basic Status race DQ’s were advanced – besides it’s always nice to give people as many races as possible for their buck.

With qualifying over and bracketing computed we were ready to start racing commencing with the A Group, round of 8. The pairings were: Louis Selby vs Paul Coupe, Chris Charalambous vs Sam Gordon, Olle Bauer Vs Pelle Plast and Mmedo Duffort vs Anton Sundling. Louis dispatched Paul in their match-up, although the big man put in a very nice clean second run it just wasn’t enough. Chris and Sam both DQ’d their first run leaving everything to play for. But disaster stuck again at the bottom section for Chris and for a rare second time he DQ’d. So despite his hefty four cone penalty Sam advanced. In the Swede on Swede battle my fellow Kryptonics Brand Ambassador Pelle was also having a battle with the bottom of the course, taking out five cones in his first run against Olle.and went into his second run 1.64 behind – behind being the operative word when you skate in your pants!. Olle took out 3 cones to Pelle’s one but it wasn’t enough to help Pelle, so he joined Paul sitting in the shade. The final pair in the round of 8 saw Mmedo, who had taken a big slam earlier, eliminate Anton from the proceedings. Anton DQ’d his first run and couldn’t make up the deficit.

Olle Bauer in his heat against Pelle Plast – who raced in his pants! Photo: Alec Brown

In the round of 4 Louis beat Pavel teammate Sam, who’s combined cone count of seven over the two runs did the lion’s share of the damage. A struggling Mmedo double DQ’d against Olle and so it would be the Swedish Hog Hill newcomer to face Louis in the final.

Sam faced Mmedo in the Consolation round for third spot. The first run saw both riders take out cones on the bottom section. Although Mmedo had hit six cones to Sam’s five his faster raw time of 15.25 saw him go into the second run with a 0.46 advantage. Both riders left the start ramp in synch and were neck and neck through the first section of the course but just after the second offset the trickier lower section got both of them. Another double DQ meaning the injured Mmedo snatched third place and earned a much needed sit down.

The final was intensely close. In the first run Louis ran fast and clean but Olle was faster and despite one cone penalty went into the final run just .06 up on the Pavel rider. The last run was even closer with Louis crossing the line in 14.90 and Olle in 14.89. But again it was the cone count that would be critical in deciding the outcome. Louis’ two cones to Olle’s three had secured him another podium top spot, a victory by a margin of just 0.03.

Conditions on the hill were perfect as we began the B group racing. Because of the number of racers we needed to run a couple of heats to get down to a round of 8. In the first heat Noah Ellison would Race Alec Brown. Unfortunately for Alec he double DQ’d his runs sending Noah through. Next up was “The One” Bossman Richard Searle versus Mike Fish. Mike DQ’d in his first run leaving Rich to breeze through into the next round. Finally Trevor Hickey would race Theresa, after the first run Trevor had a 0.47 advantage. So her fellow countrymen cheering on Theresa had to put the hammer down. Sadly it was not to be another error on the lower section of the course meant that she DQ’d.

Alec Brown vs Noah Ellison. Photo: John Nicholas

So into the round of 8 we went. Noah was up against tough opposition in the form of Tiago Fanha. Try as he might Noah couldn’t quite hold his line and DQ’d both runs meaning an easy passage through to the next round for Tiago. My return to racing after an 18 month hiatus wasn’t quite the success I had hoped it would be either. Then again I was up against my old Souhbank homie, the style master himself Dobie. Sadly I became another victim of the bottom of the course and pulled out Dq’ing my run. Although Dobie sent cones flying from his course as well, the difference was that he crossed the line! Our second run was pretty much a re-run of the first only this time Dobie DQ’d too! Homie went through. Note to self – don’t faff around doing other things when practice is on – take a couple of runs Doofus! Next up was Dread City’s John Nicholas racing Rich. But even John had trouble with the course and he DQ’d his first run meaning that Rich was in the driving seat. John dug deep and flew out of the gate and crossed the line over a second ahead of Rich but it wasn’t enough and Rich took it by just 0.14. Last up was the ever improving Dill Hill and Trevor. Dill was looking on form and put in a good first run time crossing the line almost a second ahead of Trev, who even though he had run clean and Dill had hit six cones, found himself trailing Dill by 0.44. He ran clean again but not fast enough to catch Dill who crossed the line ahead of him, this time with only 2 cone penalties and something of a Hog Hill record. Bucking the trend that one course is always faster than the other he recorded exactly the same raw time on both courses, 17.33.

The round of 4 saw Tiago go through to the final after Dobie DQ’d his first run. He put in a faster time than Tiago on the second but was still wide of the mark. Dill then relegated Rich to the Consolation round, both riders demolished the lower section of the course in spectacular style on their last run but Dill was quicker it was that simple.

The consolation round was a fairly a straightforward affair. Dobie double DQ’d, Rich didn’t and so took third place. The Dill vs Tiago final was very close indeed. Dill took the first round and led by just 0.10 but Tiago came back with a much quicker run and although he hit five cones to Dill’s four it was fast enough to claim the top podium position. It had been a great afternoons racing and the sun had shone down on us and reddened our pale skins. We cleared away everything that needed to be and then headed for home and cold beer.

A new event to Hog Hill kicked off Sunday morning, an electric skateboard race. The race was organised by the crew from Evolve Electric Skateboards UK and gave all of us something to watch while we ate our bacon sarnies and woke ourselves up with copious amounts of hot tea and coffee.

The first of the Evolve electric skateboard races gets underway. Photo: Rob Ashby

The sun was making an effort to come out to play but the clouds were fighting it back. As we began Giant Slalom practice the sky was looking moody but it showed no signs of rain for the time being at least. The GS would be decided on the fastest of three timed runs with any cones hit incurring a 0.2 second penalty. We began racing just after midday and I was being ably assisted by Silver Fox Jim Slater who had kindly agreed to take on shouting duties on the bend of the hill. Olle Bauer set the pace with a first run time of 22.79 clean. Riders all appeared to be enjoying the course and the conditions, times were getting quicker. Louis, Mmedo, Sam and Paul were all going well and racing hard trying to better each other and topple Olle from his position at the top of the leaderboard. About halfway through racing the wind picked up and it became critical for riders to time their runs with the conditions and avoid the headwinds. With just four runs left to go we felt rain in the air however the warmth in the track meant that the light drizzle was virtually dying as it hit the asphalt. I asked each of the remaining racers if they wanted to take their runs and they all replied in the affirmative and within five minutes all runs had been completed. Olle’s first run time stood the closest Louis could get was 22.94. He may have lost out to Louis in Saturday’s Hybrid but Olle’s took the coveted Hog Hill GS crown for Sweden.

Trevor Hickey on the GS coursePhoto: John Nicholas

The prize giving saw winners mugs, Kryptonics Wheels, bearings and other assorted schwag from Octane Sport handed out to the Hybrid and GS winners and a set of slide gloves for our only woman entrant Theresa . Following the prize giving we all wished each other well and went our separate ways.

The next event at Hog Hill will be Summer Swine Stomp 14th & 15th July when we will changing the format a little and holding the first race for The Martin Sweeney Memorial Trophy. More details will be announced in the coming weeks. We will also be printing some tee shirts to mark our 10th anniversary with graphics by Mac. We’ll be taking pre-orders shortly and details will be posted up soon so keep an eye out.

The Usual BIG Thanks Dept:

Sam Gordon for his top notch work in front of and behind the scenes, sign up etc.

Simon Wells for transportation/ramp shifting and generally getting involved in just about everything during set up and breakdown

Kryptonics – for the awesome wheels!

All of our other event sponsors

The Swedes for joining us

The Course Setters

Timmy, Ben, Jorge and crew – for sorting out all things longboardy and sign- up.

Ian Coles, Sylvia, Dave and all of the staff at Redbridge Cycling Centre

St John’sAmbulance Service

Coupe Limousine Service

……And finally a special big “Thank You” to everyone that raced and helped out with writing things on whiteboards, set up/break-down and van packing – it always makes things easier and quicker when everyone mucks-in!

The first ever course laid down at Hog Hill on 20th July 2008. The centre was still being completed and the only facilities on site were the blue builders cabin and two site toilets you can see at the bottom of the hill, everything else was still very much under construction.

This year sees the 10th Anniversary of the UK Slalom Skateboarding Association holding races at Redbridge Cycling Centre AKA Hog Hill. The UKSSA along with London Longboards will be holding their usual series of events at this prime UK facility. The dates for these are as follows:

The Crackling: Year X

14th – 15th April 2018 (From 12.30 on Saturday 14th)

Summer Swine Stomp: Hangin’ Ten at Hog Hill

14th – 15th July 2018 (From 12.30 on Saturday 14th)

Hogtoberfest 2018

13th – 14th October (From 12.30 on Saturday 13th)

Make a note of these dates now and join us for a weekend at the countries best multi-disciplined skateboard events.

The first Hog Hill event of the year The Crackling: Year X features head to head and Giant Slalom racing with some of the best of the current crop of British racers as well as racers from across Europe. Freeriding, Downhill Racing, Luge, Slide events and numerous other clinics will be hosted and run by our friends at London Longboards. There will also be a Freestyle jam featuring the cream of the current crop of UK’s freestylers.

Louis Selby on the GS watched by Chris Schutz and Derek Featherstone.Photo by Alec Brown

Saturday began with Andy and I loading the ramps under heavy skies, bits of blue were poking through the greyness but a downpour en route did nothing to boost confidence for a good days racing. On arrival at Hog Hill it was great to welcome Chris Schutz, Ferdinand Lindner and Bob Augustin from Berlin – they preferred to come to London and race at the Hill rather than race in Stuttgart which was also on this weekend. After the usual greetings, banter and coffee we got to work on setting up. Sadly just as everything was about ready the “few spots of rain in the air” turned into a deluge and sent everyone fleeing for the sanctuary of the café; everyone that is bar a few hardy downhillers who where enjoying themselves too much to let a little bit of rain stop them. In the café Ed Brockman was holding court and showing off his vintage stock and tempting punters. There was much eating of cake and drinking hot beverages whilst the assembled throng told tales of yore and watched the rain bouncing up off the track. Sadly that was pretty much the story for Saturday and we left hoping for a better day on Sunday.

The “Happy Campers” seeking food and shelter in the pub on Saturday evening.Photo: Rob Ashby

Sunday morning saw a welcome return of the sun. We started the day off with GS and after a few practice runs we were up and running. The smaller than normal field allowed us to let riders take three runs rather than the usual two. The fastest would be the one that counts and determine their place on the now infamous Octane “Top Gear” leader board. The course was the same as the one used at The Cracking in May. It was still marked and with time a critical factor in getting through the race programme it made sense not setting a new one. However a bit of trouble with the timing gear caused a slight delay in the start. After diagnosing the tape switches as the problem they were both duly replaced and we were soon back in action. The skating was exceptional and there was just over a four second gap separating the top to the bottom of the pack. The changeable head/tailwind could be a deciding factor therefore timing was critical when launching from the ramp. We were ably assisted on the hill by “The Godfather of UK Slalom” Derek Featherstone who took on the role of Chief Marshall, checking on the cone count and signalling any problems. With only a couple of the third runs done we suffered a short rain interlude. Thankfully it was short-lived, there was just time for a quick cuppa and we were ready to continue. The battle for the hallowed top spot on the board was being fought out between Pavel teammates Chris Schutz, Ferdy, Louis and Sam and that was the order at the top of the leader board at the finish, the board belonged to our friends fromBerlin.

With time of the essence we readied the Hybrid course and timing double quick. We qualified and we bracketed in record time. The cut for the A Group was the top 8 fastest and the remaining riders would form the B Group. The A Group round of 8 was a tall order for four riders as they would each be facing a seasoned Team Pavel racer. Dill hill was up against Chris Schutz, John Nicholas would be racing Sam Gordon, Paul Coupe would race Louis Selby and Paul Taylor Crush would face Ferdinand. Despite valiant efforts especially from Paul Taylor Crush the Pavel Crew blitzed their opposition leaving themselves to fight it out for the top three places. The highlight of the round of 4 were the heats between Louis and Ferdy both were very close with Louis coming out on top as he pumped furiously through the last section of the course.

In the Final Louis would be up against Chris, in their first heat despite hitting two cones to Louis’ one, Chris went into the second run with a 0.29 advantage. Louis made a valiant effort to make up the deficit but it was a too tall an order and he ended incurring 4 cone penalties. Chris was top of the pile by a final margin of 1.2 seconds.

King of The Stomp – Chris Schutz showing off his go faster UKSSA Sticker.Photo: Rob Ashby

With just over an hour of track time left we ran straight into the B Group. There were only six racers to get through so it was achievable providing there were no hold ups or delays. We ran the round of 8 with Jim Parry Jones and Berliner Bob Augustin going through on byes. Andy Turner raced Trevor Hickey, both riders ran clean but it was Andy that went through to meet Jim. In the other heat Richard Searle was up against Alec Brown. Richard hit cones on his first run but still managed to take the last spot in the round of 4 to face Bob. The first round of 4 heat between Andy and Jim was an incredibly close race, both riders hit a cone a piece but Andy just edged it by 0.06! The second run was almost as close except this time Jim had a bit of a conefest and incurred himself seven cone penalties. Bob had a bit of a nightmare against Richard hitting cones in the first run and DQ’ing his second. His mojo had not been restored in the Consolation Round against Jim either, he DQ’d his first run and hit 7 cones in his second leaving Jim to claim 3rd. In the first run of the Final Andy took a nasty slam at the end of the course Richard crossing the finish line alone. Shaken and definitely a bit stirred Andy climbed the ramp for the second heat determined to make Richard work for his podium but he had to pull out halfway down the course, he could not swing his arm properly after his fall. And so another great day of racing at Hog Hill came to an end, prizes were given, stickers handed out, vans were loaded, thanks were thanked and our friends fromBerlin wished Auf Wiedersehen.

Thank you once again to Michael and Octane Sport for providing race support, sponsorship and prizes, Kryptonics Wheels, The “Man with the Van” Andy Turner for transporting the ramps up from my sister’s in West Sussex, My sister and RK Case Contractors for providing the ramp storage, Sam Gordon for all of his organisation, sign up assistance and financial administration, Timmy Peters and DAS Industries for organisational shizzle and logistics, Seismic Skate for providing race spreadsheets, and all the UKSSA crew and racers for all mucking in and helping out.

Big thanks to Chris, Ferdy and Bob for coming over for our little race, It’s always fun racing with you guys.

Finally thanks to Ian Coles and all at Redbridge Cycling Centre for putting up with us once again and a special big thank you to Sylvia and her team for sheltering, feeding and watering us.